I'M A LITTLE FIRED UP RIGHT NOW.
SOMEONE JUST TOLD ME THEY DIDN'T MAKE AN ASK BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T THINK THE PERSON WOULD GO FOR IT.
IN OTHER WORDS, THEY SAID "NO" FOR THEM.
They "passed" on behalf of the person without even giving them the chance to say "yes."
Let me tell you something...
When it comes to making things happen, everyone has a job.
Your job is to dream audaciously, act courageously and make big asks.
Their job is to say yes or no. And this is their job alone.
Never say no for other people.
Do you know why most church leaders don't lead growing churches?
It's not because they're not capable.
It's not because they don't want to try.
It's because they don't think anyone will buy in to their audacious vision for the future.
They say "no" for the church!
When I planted our church from scratch, I had to get people to buy into the vision and volunteer for an organization that existed only in my head. I had to pull off a miracle with very little money.
So I contacted all the local news stations asking if they would do an interview with me on live television.
Nearly every news producer didn't return my call. Why would anyone give free, expensive airtime to an unknown, unproven local pastor with no people?
One did.
In what would have cost $35,000 to buy, I received free television airtime to talk about my new church start-up.
Are you kidding me?? That's impossible, right!?
Never Say No for Other People.
Last week, my wife and I found ourselves with a sudden, unexpected adoption bill well North of $15,000.
We were at the end of our rope.
We had no way to come up with that amount of money in 48 hours.
So I started a spur-of-the-moment telethon online.
Did I know if anyone would tune in? No.
Would an online audience donate money for our cause? I had no idea.
Was I assured that all my hard work and sweat and financial asks would result in reaching our goal? Nope.
But I understood this principle of leadership: provision always followsvision.
Leaders have to jump off the cliff first if they expect others to follow.
For 35 hours live online, I shared my heart, we refused to give up, and we prayed that God would bless our efforts.
The end result?
We raised more than $15,000 in 48 hours from strangers online.
Never Say No for Other People.
You have a decision to make this week.
Big asks are part of leadership.
Will everyone support your crazy, audacious vision or goal?
Probably not.
But we will only ever be spectators of other people's achievements and triumphs if we take on the job of saying "no" for other people!
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